Map of Ahr from above, Ahr Valley Red Wine Hike marked with a wine glass

Outdoors · Ahr

Ahr Valley Red Wine Hike

35-kilometre Rotweinwanderweg opened 1972. Five trail stages high above Ahr Valley vineyards with Spaetburgunder wine focus and tavern stops.

What to do there

AdventureAhr Valley Red Wine HikeGermany's northernmost red wine region shouldn't make world-class Pinot Noir at 50.5°N. Dark slate cliffs act as night-heat batteries, and the sheltered gorge creates a microclimate that defies the latitude. Then the 2021 flood killed 134 people and left only 5 of 46 wineries untouched. Meike and Dörte Näkel were trapped in their building as water rose around them. Winemakers from across Germany sent harvest teams. The FlutWein campaign sold 175,000 mud-covered bottles and raised $5 million. Jean Stodden's Frühburgunder — a Pinot mutation that ripens two weeks early — was down to 15 hectares before rescue.